Biodiversity studies and their foundation in taxonomic scholarship

Studies of biodiversity rely on taxonomically recognized variation to establish regions of special evolutionary and conservation interest. The number of species known from a region relates well to the number of taxonomists working on that region. It is important that we evaluate the philosophy of taxonomists, who have a large impact on our tally of species. Yet, philosophy of what constitutes a species, race, or variety differs among taxonomists and between periods of an individual taxonomist's career, Hence, our modern crisis in taxonomic expertise translates directly into a crisis in revisionary systematics. We must invest more in training traditional scholars.